When military and/or police personnel or other individuals are engaged in tactical training situations, or playing games to simulate these types of situations, they use simulated weapons that are designed to imitate the size and feel of the actual firearms that are used in the field. Such firearms frequently use detachable magazines, which typically require that the operator carry a number of magazines loaded with ammunition so that they can rapidly re-load their weapon as needed.
To provide a realistic experience when individuals use weapon simulator systems incorporating simulated weapons with simulated detachable magazines, weapon simulator systems have been designed so that the trainee or individual is able to carry a number of simulated magazines to be used with the simulated weapon. By using various different magazines, the operator is able to interchange these magazines with the simulated weapon, as required with actual firearms.
Further, the magazine includes a mechanism capable of storing information on the number of “shots” available within the magazine, such as the electronic counter mechanism disclosed in UK Published Patent Application No. GB 2,259,559A, or the wireless module disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,291,014, which are each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Through various types connections formed between the mechanism in the magazine and the weapon, as the weapon tracks the number of shots fired from the weapon, the weapon can supply this information to the magazine to correspondingly adjust the available number of “shots” in the magazine until the available number of “shots” reaches zero. At that point the magazine becomes empty or depleted and the mechanism in the magazine prevents further operation of the weapon. This information can be retained in the mechanism by the magazine, such that the magazine cannot simply be removed and reinserted into the same or another weapon. Once depleted, the magazine must be recharged by connecting the magazine to a suitable charger. Other examples of magazines and weapons of this type are also shown in US Patent Application Publication No. US2008/0127538, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
However, while electronic-only weapon simulator systems of this type force the individual to exchange magazines during a training simulation or game environment based on criteria similar to that present when using real weapons (i.e., the limited number of rounds present in a given magazine), the simulated weapons suffer from certain drawbacks. First, the chargers required to recharge depleted magazines require an individual to remove themselves from the simulation to access a charger, which is necessarily connected to a power source, such as an electric outlet, outside of the simulation environment. Further, the weapons of this type do not provide any feedback to the individual in the manner of real weapons, or other simulated weapons designed to fire paintballs or other similar projectiles. Consequently, when the simulated weapons of the above types are fired, only electronically-generated sounds or movement, i.e., vibration, if any, are generated by the weapon as an indication of the simulated firing of the projectile. As a result of these issues, the realism of using the simulated weapon in these simulations is diminished.
To provide more realistic action to the individual using the simulated weapon, there are a number of prior art simulated weapons that include a supply of compressed gas, air or carbon dioxide (CO2) within the weapon. The compressed gas supply can be externally connected to the simulated weapon, disposed directly within the simulated weapon as a simulated round to be fired, or a container held a compartment in the weapon, or within a magazine designed to be removably engaged with the weapon. In each case, the compressed gas supply is present to provide a recoil effect to the simulated weapon via a recoil mechanism operated by the compressed gas supply in response to the operation of a trigger on the weapon. Examples of weapons of this type include those disclosed in: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,947,738; 6,146,141; 6,682,350; 6,869,285; and 7,306,462; US Patent Application Publication No. US 2008/0187888 and PCT Published Application No. WO 2010/065124 A1, each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,285 a retrofit pistol is disclosed in which the compressed gas supply is provided by a canister that is positioned directly within the handle for the pistol. The canister is positioned within a housing located in the magazine well in the handle and held therein by a threaded clamp that is turned with respect to the handle to secure or disengage the canister from the recoil mechanism.
In each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,141 and 6,682,350, weapons are disclosed in which the supply of compressed gas is held within a magazine engaged with the weapon. However, in each of these references the canister is omitted and the compressed gas is stored directly within a compartment of the magazine. When depleted, the magazine is removed from the weapon and connected to a separate gas supply in order to recharge the canister with the compressed gas used to operate the recoil mechanism.
While each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,141; 6,682,350 and 6,869,285 provides more realistic feedback to the individual as a result of the recoil provided by the compressed gas supply and recoil mechanism, each of these references omits any mechanism where the number of shots fired by the weapon can be recorded and retained in a storage mechanism within the magazine. Further, similar to the electronic-only weapons discussed previously, when the compressed gas supply for each of these references is depleted, the construction of the weapon does not allow for a ready resupply of the compressed gas to the weapon.
In PCT Published Application No. WO 2010/065124, the disclosure shows a simulated weapon with a compressed gas canister positioned within a magazine that is removable from the magazine well. To hold the canister within the magazine, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,285, a cartridge engagement means including a threaded clamp is provided to secure or disengage the canister from a valve mechanism operated when the trigger of the weapon is depressed to supply gas from the canister to the recoil mechanism. Further, the magazine in this reference also includes a mechanism within the magazine that counts the number of “shots” fired by the weapon, and can operate to lock the weapon in an inoperable state when a predetermined number of “shots” has been reached. The magazine must then be removed from the weapon to reset the counting mechanism by depressing a switch on the magazine, such that the magazine can be returned to the weapon for continued use.
However, in this reference, similar to U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,285, the construction of the cartridge engagement means prevents the magazine from being readily recharged with compressed gas. Therefore, with regard to each of prior art simulated weapons discussed here, the individual is limited to the simulated ammunition supply held within the total number of magazines that are carried by the individual.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a detachable simulated magazine for use in connection with a simulated weapon for use in various combat simulations that provides a realistic look, sound and feel to the operation of the magazine and weapon, as well as providing a more efficient and realistic manner for reloading the simulated magazine with simulated ammunition.